


Truth

by SacredPanda



Series: The Hunt [9]
Category: Exalted, Star Wars Legends: Republic Commando Series - Karen Traviss
Genre: Drug Withdrawal, Recreational Drug Use, Secret kid
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-04
Updated: 2018-04-04
Packaged: 2019-04-18 06:06:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,638
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14206755
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SacredPanda/pseuds/SacredPanda
Summary: Roxil has been dishonest, he's been keeping a secret. Maybe it's stress but he wants to get it off his chest.





	Truth

**Author's Note:**

> Corsenna just dropped a truth bomb on us in the forum and now I'm dropping it here. The forum has been helping me with a lot of my hospital stress, Corsenna has been a lifesaver and little does she know letting me use Roxil has done a lot for me. No one wants a romance with someone that's hospitalized full-time so this is really just an excuse for a little smut in my life. Also a thanks to one of my best friends that also recently joined the forum, he has no shame and when asked has told me all his dirty secrets.

Jaing rushed into Kal’s apartment, handing him a datachip on his way through. Ordo had sent him a frustratingly vague message about Roxil’s duplicate being _very unwell_.   
“All the intel our Republic overlords wanted. Where’s Vivekka?”  
“Bedroom but-” Kal turned and saw Jaing already disappearing through the door. The lights were off and the windows were blacked out. He could barely make out Roxil in a chair by the bed, a finger against his lips telling him to stay quiet. Vivekka made a pathetic sound and rolled slowly away from the door.  
“Too bright.” Roxil whispered. He pulled the blanket back over Vivekka’s shoulder, she was shivering violently. “Just a little, Viv? it’ll help you feel better.”  
“What’s going on Roxil?”  
“She’s trying to get clean like _you_ wanted. She’s been like this for days now. Intense pain, vomiting, sweating and shivering. She starting complaining about a headache this morning and now it’s so bad that any light is intolerable.”  
“ _Di’kut_ ,” He sat down next to Roxil and put a hand lightly on Vivekka’s shoulder. “Use a little. You’ve been on that drug for hundreds of years, right? You have to ween yourself off slowly. Withdrawal from consistent use of some drugs can be dangerous, even lethal. Tapering down reduces the risk significantly.”  
“ _Nash nu_ ,” She groaned before making a weak attempt to pull the blanket over her head. Jaing shrugged at Roxil, he really needed to ask Jatne to teach him Roxil’s native language.  
“She thinks that’ll take too long. J’ika, I haven’t been entirely honest with you. I am not currently childless, but we might be.” He gave it some time, Jaing seemed to be trying to figure out what he was saying.  
“I give up, what is that supposed to mean, Roxil?” Instead of giving him a straight answer Roxil got up and waved a hand toward the wall. His tattoos glowed faintly causing Vivekka to whimper again.  
“It’s a door,” Roxil looked indecisive for a moment. “I’d like you to go bathe before stepping through actually. And put on something clean.” Jaing looked down at himself as though he hadn’t realized his armor was coated in mud. He sighed and quietly left the room. By the time he got back Roxil was back in his seat by the bed. He sounded like he was arguing in a near silent whisper, he probably wouldn’t have been able to understand them even if they were using basic. He only caught the last few words as he stepped closer. “ _Anat sho kar. Sor wa sai. Anat mi nai hoshi usotsu mot. Mi kimwa_?” Whatever he was saying upset Vivekka, but she didn’t really seem to disagree. “You’re clean?” He turned to Jaing, the Null nodded in response. “When you step through the portal remain absolutely still and silent on the other side. This is very important, do you understand?” Jaing nodded again. He stepped to where Roxil had been before, certain he was going to walk face first into the wall.  
Jaing thought he probably would have froze on the other side even if Roxil hadn’t told him to. Of all the things he had imagined, he never thought he’d take a single step from Kal’buir’s apartment only to find himself standing in the center of a massive tree trunk. Roxil stepped through seconds behind him.  
“ _Kiin_?” He called up a set of stairs spiraling up the inner wall of the tree. For a second time in the last few moments Jaing was shocked. A massive tiger appeared at the top of the stairs, sniffing and growling as it walked down. “ _Kon wa_ Jaing, _kar wa yuji_.” The tiger growled in return. “ _Yuji, Kiin_! _Kar wa yuji_.” He looked at the creature impatiently until it sat at the bottom of the stairs and hung it’s head slightly. “It’s safe now. You can go up. Please don’t be mad at me, J’ika. I’ll explain myself I promise, I just … I’ve been scared.”  
“What are you talking about?” At the top of the stairs was another large round room. This one had cushions spread all over the floor and silks lining the walls. In the middle was a large stone basin filled with more silk and furs. Roxil cut ahead of him before he reached the basin. The Lunar pulled a large bundle of fur from inside, he held it gently and looked at it with a kind of love and devotion Jaing had only ever seen in Kal, but he also looked sad.   
“My little Kayo, _shi kimwa sonsi oto_? Did you miss your papa, _Chisa Faita_ ” Roxil turned when Jaing tried to look around his shoulder revealing the tiny infant wrapped in the fur.  
“Roxil…”  
“Kayo. My Little Fighter, _Chisa Faita_. He was born only a few days before I arrived here.” Roxil brushed a fresh tear from his eye. “He was born nearly two months earlier than our doctor anticipated. It was a hard birth, his mother did not survive. He was born very weak, he wasn’t expected to make it through the night. I held him in my arms and prayed until the rose. Our doctor suggested he be kept in seclusion until he was stronger, _if_ he endured at all. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, I’m so sorry Jaing. I’m sure I’m going to lose him, Jaing,”  
“I need to get out of here, now.”  
“Please don’t be mad, Jaing. I really am sorry.”   
“Roxil, we can talk about this later but you’re in desperate need of a good doctor. I’m sure _buir_ can think of someone. I can think of one,”  
“You’ll help?”  
“ _Di’kut_ , why wouldn’t I? He’s your _verd’ika_ , and if I’m ever going to be a father I’ve got a lot to learn.”

 

“How have you been feeding him?” The man had come to Coruscant as quickly as possible when Kal asked. His name was Mij, he didn’t look too friendly, but the Nulls trusted him and that was good enough for Roxil. He had already irritated Roxil, but he was keeping his temper under control. Mij took Kayo from him and put the baby inside a small clear box, there were a lot of wires, cables, and tubes attached to it that obstructed Roxil’s view.  
“One of the few human shapes I know was a wet nurse.”  
“You then, were you vaccinated?”  
“What is vaccinated?”  
“Right, you’ll need to stop feeding him yourself immediately.” He stopped to tap at his datapad for a moment. “Kal, you mind running to a market?” He transferred the file he was working on to Kal and typed some more. “Jaing, I’m writing up a few prescriptions, but it’ll take a full day to go through, think you can fix that?”  
“Rush order, consider it done.” He received another file and sat down at a terminal to go to work.   
“His immune system is weak. Jaing is getting us access to a few things that’ll help with that. His lungs and heart aren’t working properly either. I’ve got him on a machine that helps him breathe but all we can really do about that is wait. He’s still got some developing to do but some of the medications on the list I’ve sent Jaing will help with that. I’ll get him on antibiotics and enhanced formula…” Mij sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “You should have called for a doctor sooner. You’re lucky this kid is still alive. Premature birth comes with a lot of complications and this one was _very_ premature. You’re a-” He stopped, Roxil sat and buried his face in his hands and held his breath to stop himself from sobbing.   
“He didn’t know we could help, Mij.” Jaing didn’t look away from his terminal. “How much did _buir_ tell you about him?”  
“Not much, he’s some kind of shapeshifter alien.”  
“Not quite. Prepare youself to suspend your disbelief but he’s from a different universe. Where he’s from the world isn’t a sphere, they don’t have electricity or advanced technology, limited medical science. I wouldn’t believe it myself but with Jat’ika back…”  
“Jatne? He died,”  
“Yeah, he did. Now he’s alive. There’s a parallel universe out there somewhere, one where Jatne didn’t die. He got pulled into Roxil’s world by something he called a rift. He was there for about a year before they both got pulled through a rift and wound up here. Roxil has been doing his best. Where he’s from premature children either live or they don’t. He’s done an incredible job keeping the kid alive this long. The moment he knew he could get better care he put it in my hands and I put it in yours. Don’t punish him for what he didn’t know.”  
“Sorry, never did get the hang of bedside manner.” He put a hand on Roxil’s shoulder, Mij hadn’t seen it but the Lunar was shaking with barely restrained tears.  
“He’s all I have and you won’t even let me hold him but… I want him to live. I didn’t think he would. I’ve had nineteen premature births in my life and none of them lived. I named them all, Luna bless their souls. I thought he must be special, in a hurry to see the world under a full moon, but in truth I had no hope. I’m so sorry, I should have told you sooner, Jaing, but…”  
“But you wouldn’t be able to pretend everything was normal if he died. Roxil, I’m more upset you thought you would need to pretend. Maybe you forgot, but we know what it feels like to lose family.”  
“I was angry. Maybe I thought I needed to pretend life went on as usual. But I was hurt because you thought I couldn’t handle it when you left.”  
“That’s not true! I didn’t know what to say. I’ve only ever been close to _buir_ and my _vode_. I don’t know how to… I’m working on it.”  
“I’ve set you up as well as I can for now, but even with all the advantages I can give you there are no guarantees here. If you can get your hands on a med droid to monitor his vitals, that’ll increase his odds a little more. All things considered though, you’ve got a tough kid, I’d say it’s looking pretty good for him.”  
“Guess our deal is off then,” Jaing hadn’t realized how much more excited he had gotten. He had been thinking about being a father a lot since he and Roxil had first talked it over. Now the idea of not going through with it made him angry.  
“Absolutely not! Are you backing out on me?” That wasn’t what he was expecting to hear. “I want Kayo to live, and I owe you everything for helping him. I didn’t think it was possible but I love you even more. He isn’t your child, and you seem to have it in your head that if he lives I won’t want another, and still you helped him. Jaing, when I was a human boy all I wanted was a family, a big one. I wanted tons of brothers and sisters to laugh and play and grow with. I wanted parents, aunts, uncles, grandparents. And Jaing, I want _children_ , and I want _them_ to have brothers and sisters. I can have that again, and they can have parents, and uncles, and a grandfather. Jaing, if you still want this-” Roxil’s feline ears twitched seconds before Vivekka started coughing and making an awful choking sound in the next room. Roxil was the first through the door, Jaing and Mij were right behind him. Roxil rolled Vivekka onto her side, Jaing had already grabbed a towel. She had been vomiting a lot.  
“ _Osik_ , Jaing, what is this?”  
“Narcotic withdrawal. Consistent use for longer than a year. Immediate cessation, no tapering.”  
“ _Osik_. Do you have a supply of whatever drug your sister was on?”  
“I do, but she’s not my sister, she’s me.”  
“We need to get some of it in her system.” Mij either ignored Roxil’s statement or was too focused to think about that now. “What dosage was she using?”  
“I don’t…” Roxil grabbed the bag he left out in the front room to find his little leather pouch. He took some out on the tip of a finger and held it up for Mij to see. “About that, anywhere from twice to a dozen times a day.”  
“ _Fierfek_ , and she thought she’d just stop out of the blue? Longer than a year, how long is that?”  
“I can’t remember exactly… I think around four hundred ninety years? Maybe a little more…”  
“ _Shab_ , alright we can dilute a bit in saline and inject it-”  
“No you can’t.” Roxil was sad to say it. He knew his counterpart was suffering. “Armored skin,” He had an idea. “Moonsilver. Can you show me exactly the kind of needle you would use?” He waited for Mij to rummage around in a bag of various supplies. He retrieved a small syringe and pulled the needle out to show Roxil. Roxil pulled a silver chain from his bag and his tattoos glowed brightly enough that the humans had to turn away for a moment, a few of the links appeared to melt away where he touched them. He studied the needle from Mij for a moment and closed his eyes, the pool of silver in his other hand solidified into a seemingly exact replica. Jaing and Mij both put their helmets back on so the visors could compensate for the intense light. “Even using Moonsilver you won’t be strong enough to get it through her skin, you’ll have to show me.”  
“I think you’re underestimating me.” He snatched the pouch from where Roxil dropped it and disappeared into the kitchen.  
“I think you’re underestimating the advantages of Celestial Exaltations and Divinity.” Roxil shouted. He would have happily argued but he didn’t want to leave Vivekka. Even if this killed her he would simply absorb the essence, the biggest setback would be restarting the whole process of getting her clean. It was a long time before Mij came back. Vivekka was muttering things none of them could understand, periodically stopping to throw up, and shivering no matter how many blankets Roxil put over her. Mij struggled for a while, he was a stubborn man but eventually he had to concede, he really had underestimated what Roxil meant by armored skin.  
“What is she?”  
“I told you she is _me_ ,” He pushed Mij aside and lined up the needle exactly the way he had seen the doctor do it. He made it look as though her skin offered no resistance. “And I am a Lunar Exalt of the Celestial court, Chosen of Luna, Steward of Creation, City God of Cherochybi-”  
“Forget I asked… Look you’ll want to start off giving her fifty milligrams diluted twice a day. Once in the morning, once at night. You can step her down by ten or fifteen each week. It’s not ideal but it’ll have to do because unfortunately I can’t hang around here just yet.”  
“One question. How much is fifty milligrams?”  
“These have the units printed right on the side here,”  
“And which one is it?”  
“Roxil, we’ll help you.”  
“Before I go I’m going to take the kid out of the box. Scans are done,” He looked at his datapad. “He doesn’t need to stay in the bassinet.” His expression softened at the look on Roxil’s face. “Yes you can hold him again now. Lots of skin contact, it’ll help keep him warm. His temperature is still running a little lower than I’d like so that’s very important.” He attempted to evade Roxil’s hug but failed. “I don’t want your skin contact, save it for your kid.”


End file.
